Transgender ex-lawmaker charged in hospital bomb threat

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire woman believed to be the first transgender person elected to a state legislature was charged Thursday with calling in a bomb threat to a hospital, police said.

Police arrested 31-year-old Stacie Laughton of Nashua on Thursday following the Feb. 27 threat to Southern New Hampshire Medical Center. Police evacuated the building but found no suspicious device. An investigation led police to issue a warrant for Laughton's arrest; she turned herself in without incident.

Calls weren't being accepted Thursday at a phone listed for her.

In 2012, Laughton was elected to the state House of Representatives but she never took her seat, resigning after reports of a prior felony conviction raised questions about her legal ability to serve.

The state's Ballot Law Commission denied her request to run again last year, saying Laughton's 2008 convictions for identity fraud and falsifying evidence disqualified her until 2018, when her suspended sentence ends.

Laughton was charged Thursday with making a false report regarding explosives, a felony that can bring up to 7 years in prison if convicted. She was released on $50,000 bond and is due back in court in April.